Directions

1.
Wash spinach leaves well in three changes of cold water; shake dry. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in large pan over medium heat. Add half the garlic; saute until light golden, about 2 minutes. Add half the spinach leaves, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain spinach in a colander. Repeat with another tablespoon butter and remaining garlic and spinach. When spinach is cool enough to handle, squeeze to rid it of liquid. Roughly chop spinach; place in medium bowl. Add ricotta, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper.

2.
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add a third of the mushrooms; season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Saute until mushrooms are softened and browned, about 10 minutes. Deglaze skillet by pouring 1/4 cup Madeira into hot skillet with mushrooms and using a wooden spoon to loosen bits cooked onto skillet. Cook mushrooms until liquid has almost evaporated. Transfer cooked mushrooms to medium bowl. Repeat with another 2 tablespoons of butter, another third of the mushrooms, and 1/4 cup Madeira. (Reserve the final third of mushrooms and Madiera for topping.) Add two-thirds of the chopped parsley to bowl with cooked mushrooms; stir.

5.
Just before serving, melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in the skillet over medium heat. Add remaining third of the uncooked mushrooms; season with the remaining teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook until golden and tender, about 10 minutes. Deglaze skillet, with mushrooms in it, with the remaining 1/4 cup Madeira. Stir in the remaining third of fresh parsley.

6.
In a small saucepan, combine reserved 1/2 cup sauce with remaining 1/2 cup milk. Over medium heat, whisk until warm and smooth. Spoon cooked mushrooms over each serving, or serve on the side. Serve lasagna with warmed sauce.

Cook's Notes

Frozen spinach can be substituted for fresh, and fresh plain lasagna sheets can be substituted for fresh spinach lasagna sheets.

Tasty and VERY filling! I also reduced the spinach to 3 lbs and the baking dish was still over flowing. I have no idea how 5 lbs would fit! I also used dry (no boil) pasta sheets and they worked fine. Here in Sacramento fresh pasta is hard to come by... as are chanterelles and oyster mushrooms. Shitake and portobellos worked just fine. I doubled the garlic and cooked really thoroughly before adding the mushrooms and they were delicious!

Just wanted to add my 2 cents. I made some substitutions that I think others will find valuable: I wanted to make the final product a little healthier, so instead of using butter to saute the spinach, I used olive oil and the same with the mushrooms (although mine were dry/reconstituted so maybe it won't work with fresh).
Instead of making one giant 9x13, I made two 8x8s. It worked out great for us: I simply halved the amounts stated step 4 when assembling. Really great, loved it.

I loved loved loved this recipe - I ended up cutting everything in half to make it more manageable for 2 people, but I would have used a bit more cheese than the half. Another suggestion would be to use more wine than milk for the final sauce, tasty.

This recipe was fabulous - I was concerned about all the spinach - the 5lbs seemed way too much - and as it turned out, it was and I ended up making a small side lasagna to freeze - you can go with 5 10 oz bags of fresh spinach.

This is a wonderful recipe but I looked everywhere for spinach lasagna sheets - - either dried or fresh and could not find it even in Whole Foods. Where would I be able to buy spinach lasagna? Thanks! EstesParkConnie